I work in a boarding kennel and we have a terrible fly problem. When you have 200 dogs, you can't run the poop out to the dumpster every time you scoop! We keep everything as neat and sanitary as possible, but the flies hang around the poop cans (with lids) and around the dog kitchen where we prepare the food. In the past, we have used the fly traps with the bags that you put water and pheremones in. They are great until you go to empty them. They end up spilling dead flies and pheremones all over your hands! This year we are trying the jars, and so far they have worked well. Two makers are Vector and Farnham. We were late in putting them up this year, but the fly population has gone down considerably since we put them up a few days ago. The thing we like the most about this kind of trap is that they are safe to use around animals, and we don't have dead flies on the ground. (You'd be surpised at what some dogs think is a yummy snack!) Kay

We have a three bin system. They are plastic fencing and landscape timber posts. The center bin is for storing cover materials like leaves, either in bags or just dumped into the bin. The two out side bins are for the actual composting. One bin is active having stuff added it it regularly while the other bin is for aging or curing the previously filled compost bin. My bins are each 5' cubed, you can store alot of leaves in such a space. I often also use my old holly trash cans (what I used to use for my compost bin when I lived in an apartment) for storing or collecting cover materials. The space devoted to compost here is about 15' by 5' and occasionally a couple additional trash cans.

I bought my daughter a hanging flower arrangement kinda like that last summer. It hung verticaly and there were holes/slits cut in various places in the bag, this is where the petunias grew from. It was quite small when I bought it but as it grew and became fuller it looked like a solid masss of petunias. I have also seen it with moss roses as well as ivy geraniums. Cute idea.

i know very little about gardening, shrubs, or bushes, however we have a similar situation. we have a row of about 6 forsythias between our house & the neighbors & the area gets limited sunlight. the forsythias only bloom for a short period during the spring-summer and are naked the rest of the year. in addition, they do not get very full. i assume thats due to the lack of abundant sunlight. therefore, i would not recommend them for blocking out the neighbors based on my experience. do you want a low maintenance shrub or do you mind pruning? i believe most will take a few years to fully develop but you can buy some that are much fuller. i am interested in any suggestions you get. good luck!